Byron Beck writes: "Not to be confused with that other annual "Red Dress" fundraiser, this is the "Red Dress Party," a mondo-alcohol-fueled dance party where nearly 2,000 gay men in various states of red dress undress (and several nearly naked straight men as well as one very colorfully decorated naked woman) invade a warehouse in Northeast Portland and dance their collective asses off to pounding disco music and the incredible Storm Large and her Balls (they were beyond fabulous). Large, a bigtime Obama supporter even dedicated one of her more infamous songs, Ladylike, to Chelsea's mama. According to my sources Ms. Clinton moved heaven and earth (well, she just trimmed some of her other meetings in Oregon Saturday that included stops in Eugene and Portland State University) so that she could make the par-ty."

Adds Beck: "This small shindig was started years ago as a way for gay guys to wear girlie gowns and get stinkin’ drunk. But this much-loved party has evolved over the years. Now one of the most colorful fundraisers out there (last year the group gave away more than $25,000 to local nonprofits supporting queer youth or helping people with AIDS), it attracts over 1,500-plus attendees, including straight men and women, state legislators and anybody else who likes to rock on with their frock on."

Comments

These gay dance parties are usually thinly-veiled excuses for gay people to take drugs and have sex with someone they've known for about 30 seconds. Chelsea should have avoided it.

Posted by: jason | Apr 14, 2008 8:40:17 AM

while her mother panders to gun rights voters, the daugther panders to the gays.

AMAZING

Posted by: johnosahon | Apr 14, 2008 8:59:14 AM

At least they're not insulting gun owners and religious people, which is exactly why Hillary should be President. She's simply not that stupid.

"These gay dance parties"...have you been to this party in particular? There are PLENTY of fundraising events in the gay world that are not circuit parties where people get tweaked out of their mind. If you have no personal experience at this event, then just shut up for the sake of intelligent conversation.

Posted by: Banne | Apr 14, 2008 9:39:20 AM

She is just the COOLEST!

Posted by: JeffNYC | Apr 14, 2008 10:36:08 AM

Wow, Jason, I can see you're hateful in tossing out the stereotypes...are you a bitter hairdresser...get my point. If you have not been to this event, hush your mouth. I have been there and it’s not like that. You might want to consider maturing a bit by not be so judgmental…so you can understandg, grow-up and be kind.

Posted by: Bojo | Apr 14, 2008 10:46:09 AM

Yeh, those Clintons sure are lame in their pandering skills. Obama should really give them some pointers.

1. Just say something like "and, yes, in the Red states we have some friends who are gay" in a Dem Convention speech and 20 zillion gullible queens will "hear": "Homophobia is as bad as racism. You must help me overturn every antigay law and give gays full equality including Marriage immediately!"

2. After you've planted that myth memory in their little heads, remember that the "trigger word" is "gay." Insert it once in several speeches in legally meaningless ways like "don't blame gays for fill-in-the-blank" and they'll always "hear" the same thing they never really heard in the first place: "homophobia is etc., etc."

3. When you discover that there are some gays out there not yet brainwashed, boost the "signal" by talking about "embracing" gays. They're such pathetic, little pickafairies, desperate for a pat on the head, that even more will be sucked into the Oborg hive, and the existing ones will turn into totally brain-dead Ozombies ready to go for the jugular of anyone who dares doubt you and anyone who dares continue to compete with you for the nomination.

4. Wrap this self-fulfilling sham tight with a ribbon of big lies. Claim you're different because you want to repeal all of DOMA when, if they stopped to read between the lines, they'd see you have repeatedly said "it should be left up to the states." And claim that you were a cosponsor of and passed your state's gay rights bill. You did no such thing, but the pansy pigeons will keep pecking for you on cue because children WANT to believe.

From this point, you can get away with anything. They won't notice that you've been in the US Senate four years and haven't introduced a single bill about any of the big gay issues you get sole credit for. You'll be forgiven paying for a concert starring a rabid homophobe who says he's at "war" with gays who "are trying to kill our children." No one will pay attention to the fact that one of your best friends is another antigay minister who ran for governor on a hate the gays platform, just one of his many acts for the Antigay Industry. You can at key public moments drop the pandering routine entirely by leaving out the Magic Gay Word such as in major primary win victory speeches or when the world's eyes are on you for a speech that is supposed to be just about race but that you spend a third of the time repeating your various political talking points, pandering by calling out virtually every minority this side of Munchkins but not The Gays. And, after Swift Boating your opponent with fake charges of racism you can refuse to answer any direct gay reporter questions while she does—even in local gay papers you advertise in—and the brainwashed misses er masses will rise in a giant hissy fit cloud and defend you. You could shoot someone like Frank Kameny or Martina Navratilova on live TV and they would find a justification. "Kameny met Elton John once who's a Hillary supporter! He may be 81 but he's wiry and was going to hit the Dali Obama with one of his old White House protest signs." "Wasn't she once a Communist? I saw her swing the tennis racket toward him. It was self-defense!"

Silly wabbits those Clintons. SUCH amateurs! You'll never see First Lady Michelle marching in New York's Pride Parade! "Sen. Obama, Karl Rove on Line 1. He'd like to congratulate you on a brilliant campaign."

Posted by: Leland Frances | Apr 14, 2008 11:38:45 AM

Kind of strange that the two guy's eyes are both red and Chelsea's are normal, I mean given it was the same flash. In my experience the ole red eye at circuit events means one thing - they've dropped an E or 2.

Also the pupil size of the guy on the left is HUGE.....nice to be rolling and getting your photo taken with Chelsea. What a proud moment for the both of them.

Posted by: Derek | Apr 14, 2008 2:06:00 PM

Sounds like there are several bitter queens right here who never got invited to the fun party and haven't gotten screwed by anything not made of rubber in years. Poor things...

Boy, are you all bitter! If you had attended the event (which I did) or knew those guys (which I do), you would know that you are 100% WRONG!

The Red Dress Party is not a Circuit Party. Rather, over 2000 people (LGBT and straight) don their red dresses to raise funds for Portland-area charities: Esther's Pantry (which provides food to people living with HIV/AIDS), SHARE (which is seeking to build low and moderate senior housing for LGBT seniors), and Outside-In (which provides health care to homeless youth and other low-income people).

And those "two guys" are two of the "straightest" gay men I know - they are not on E or anything stronger than one of the Red Dress Party's four signature drinks.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, "It is better to keep your blog comments to yourself and let people think you are a fool than to post your blog comments and remove all doubt!"

Posted by: milopdx | Apr 14, 2008 2:39:56 PM

She looks so much better than anyone could ever have predicted 15 years ago! I always figured if she hadn't been the daughter of a famous politician, she'd have been teased mercilessly.

Who knows, maybe even she knows that.

Posted by: Paul R | Apr 14, 2008 4:43:33 PM

PAUL R,

People like you and JOHNOSAHON disgust me. The following is from a column by Molly Ivins in the May/June 1995 issue of Mother Jones magazine:

"On his TV show, early in the Clinton administration, (Rush) Limbaugh put up a picture of Socks, the White House cat, and asked, 'Did you know there's a White House dog?' Then he put up a picture of Chelsea Clinton, who was 13 years old at the time, and as far as I know, had never done any harm to anyone."

The insult was widely reported, and I remember it well. Do you not remember it? Clearly, neither you nor the other dip-shit have a sense of context or history.

Do not besmirch reasonable people with your nonsense. Nothing pisses me off more than an ignorant bully, especially when he has had every opportunity to defeat it. And, snide bitchiness has long since passed it's expiration date of currency, if it ever had one. It does not suggest wit nor intelligence.

The only thing I can say to you both is what Atty. Joseph Welch said to McCarthy, " ...Senator, I think I had never gauged your cruelty or your recklessness . Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

I have said it before, and I'll say it again. Do not expect respect from others if you have none to give.

Posted by: nic | Apr 14, 2008 6:31:23 PM

Umm, Nic, WTF?? First off, in my first sentence I COMPLIMENTED her. In my second I simply reported what would have happened given how petty and cruel children can be. Having been bullied plenty myself, I was merely stating a fact.

And in my third sentence I was making an allusion to the fact that, both because of her being made fun of and because she had such a bizarre childhood, she might be able to relate well to gays.

I fail to see how any of that was nonsense, bully-ish, snide bitchiness, or lack of respect. I wasn't trying to be witty or intelligent---just truthful. For the record, I like Chelsea Clinton, think she's extremely bright and beautiful, and pity her only in that she had to grow up in the public eye. One of the best things her parents did was protect her from that, but it still couldn't have been easy. Yet she handled it with grace and poise. And guess what? I'd still like---and yes, respect---her even if she didn't look amazing.

Has it occurred to you that you have a tendency to overreact and take offense where none was meant or given?

And by the way, you're splicing two separate quotations. The complete latter part of your attribution to Welch is, "I meant to do you no personal injury and if I did, I beg your pardon. Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

Posted by: Paul R | Apr 14, 2008 8:46:57 PM

Nic, one clarification (though I think it's inherent in the fact that I said "if she hadn't been the daughter of a famous politician"): I meant that if Chelsea had been the daughter of average, nonpolitician parents and was attending grade school or junior high in Arkansas, she would likely have been "teased mercilessly."

Yes, dickheads like Rush Limbaugh mocked her at the height of her adolescent awkwardness. Such cruelty is beyond reproach. But did you honestly think that when I said she otherwise would have been "teased mercilessly," I was in any way suggesting that I was condoning or promoting such (potential) treatment? I post here often. Do you really think I'm a proponent of bullying? Do you really think I was suggesting that she's undeserving of respect? Would you re-read my original comment and tell me precisely what caused your tirade?

Posted by: Paul R | Apr 14, 2008 10:48:02 PM

PAUL R, you asked:

"Has it occurred to you that you have a tendency to overreact and take offense where none was meant or given?"

Yes, it has. And, given your clarification, I owe you an apology. I am sorry. However, you cannot fault me for misconstruing what you said versus what you meant to say. I am not so clairvoyant.

As far as the Welsh quote is concerned, you are right again. There is a straying ellipsis that i did not purposefully shoo away. In an effort to condense the quote to its most cogent form, I inadvertently left out the ellipsis between the first and second sentence.

Peace.

Posted by: nic | Apr 15, 2008 12:08:44 AM

PAUL R, I have dealt with bullies, too. Who among us has not? It is obvious that I totally misread your comment and deeply offended you. Please accept my apology.

Posted by: nic | Apr 15, 2008 12:39:02 AM

Yeah it is totally normal to have HUGE dialated pupils while a flash is going off only a few feet away. The proof is in the photo hun. "Straight" gays or not - they are rolling.

And bitter and needing to get laid? Hardly. I sometimes enjoy parties and favors but would not want my photo taken next to Chelsea Clinton in that state.

Also my amazingly beautiful Brazilian boyfriend might disagree with you that my sex life only consists of rubber toys. Get a clue.

Posted by: Derek | Apr 15, 2008 9:27:14 AM

And MiloPDX take a close look at the size of Chelsea's pupils and then compare them to the guy on the right and then the guy on the left.

Kind of hard to argue that something is not just a bit off huh?

And to also quote Mark Twain, "How about you shut your stupid pie hole, you couldn't buy yourself a clue."

Posted by: Derek | Apr 15, 2008 9:36:44 AM

Sure you can hang out with us, Chelsea. But it STILL won't make your mom cool or make me want to vote for her.

Posted by: Justin Tyme | Apr 15, 2008 10:07:10 AM

Hey gang..this is the gay..i mean the "guy on the right" and I assure you that neither Juan nor I were on anything. In fact, if your read the post at wweek.com you would see that we had just arrived at
the party. The only high we might have been on was the high that comes from having the opportunity to chat up Chelsea. She was just as fun to talk to as Monica Lewinsky (who we met at a Portland party last year) and she was kind enough to pose with us for a photo—something Monica would just not do.

Nic, apology accepted. I wasn't really deeply offended, more just surprised because I read your posts often and generally agree with your views. So it came as a shock to be vilified!

Best, Paul

Posted by: Paul R | Apr 15, 2008 10:32:31 PM

derek: do us a favor and go "roll" with your beautiful brazilian boyfriend none of us really care about. thanks.

Posted by: chuck | Apr 16, 2008 4:35:23 AM

Justin Tyme - I am so jealous!! I went and saw her speak and PSU on Saturday evening and then met my sister at the Florida Room for drinks ... little did I know you lucky bastards were partying it up in the same neighborhood and chatting with my girl!! :) She is so well spoken and poised and just, real - I felt like I could have asked her out for a martini and conversation after the speech, you know? Love her! Clinton '08!!

Posted by: Lindsay | Apr 16, 2008 5:04:29 PM

Red Dress PDX does not condone or allow the use of drugs or any other controlled substance at its events. Alcohol is served, and boys to dance together, it's true, but this is a charity fundraiser, not some out-of-control circuit party. Why is it that every time there is an LGBTQ event people automatically assume sex and drugs will be involved. Have we so little self respect for ourselves?

Posted by: BoBo | Apr 16, 2008 9:52:55 PM

Oh yeah, and PS: Byron - you should get a cam that takes care of red eye issues. Seriously. Otherwise, you and Juan look HOTT! Thanks for your support. Brian.